Major electricity outage in Roodeport following damage to transmission line

Major electricity outage in Roodeport following damage to transmission line

City Power was experiencing high call volumes on Saturday, following a major electricity outage in Roodeport, Gauteng.

The Kloofendal 88kV substation, supplied by the Roodetown substation by a double circuit 88kV transmission line, experienced an outage.

“We understand the frustration caused by these outages and have been updating customers on all our platforms including sending information to stakeholders on WhatsApp groups as soon as there are new developments,” City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said.

“We appeal for patience and understanding as our teams work on restoring supply in all affected areas. There are teams on all locations, and we are calling on customers to bear with us as we do all we can to restore power.”

He said the biggest outage was from Kloofendal and Christian de Wet substations, adding that the outage was widespread because these two feed other substations such as Peter Road, Wilropark, Wilgeheuwel and Boothill.

The power outage occurred on Friday when City Parks was removing trees along the 88kV lines. A tree fell onto the transmission lines, causing damage to both circuits.

Work to clear the damaged lines and trees to avoid further damage started yesterday, however, the work had to stop at 10pm in the evening due to the challenging terrain and associated risks.

City Power Joburg said that at 6am this morning, work resumed on the reconstruction of the lines and it is expected that the first circuit will be ready for restoration by this afternoon.

Unfortunately, the area will remain off until repairs are complete.

The bulk of the outage calls are linked with three main power supply interruptions in the area listed below:

The areas affected by this outage include: Horison, Horison View, Florida Park, Georgia, Roodekrans, Wilropark, Allen’s Nek, Helderkruin, Eagle Canyon, Ruimsig, Wilgehuiwel, Constantia Kloof, Strubensvalley, Weltevreden Park, Honeydew, Kloofendal and surrounding areas.

Another outage comes from Penny Street Substation and customers in Witpoortjie and Grobler Park will be affected. Operators are on site working on fixing the outage.

The last power supply disruption comes from the JG Strydom Switching Station and it’s affecting Weltevredenpark. Four cables were damaged following a flash on the Ring Main Unit (RMU) on Friday.

This is damage required the dismantlement of the RMU. This has been done and teams has started with the replacement process of both the RMU and cables.

City Power Joburg is appealing for patience and understanding as their teams work on restoring supply in all affected areas.

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